The Whorterbank estate in Lochee: 1960s housing utopia that had ‘everything’

The Whorterbank area was Dundee’s housing utopia 60 years ago with its high-rise blocks, lower maisonette buildings and miniature shopping precinct.

These were dizzying heights in Lochee in 1963.

Whorterbank was described as “one of the most modern housing areas in Scotland” following the redevelopment which cost over £400,000.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Whorterbank had been a densely populated area consisting of mainly two-storey buildings.

By the mid-1950s much of the housing was considered poor quality and the area was chosen as a Comprehensive Development Area – the first to be completed in Scotland.

The building work was carried out by Crudens Limited.

The views were stunning.

The skyscraper age was upon us

The 15-storey Ancrum Court and 15-storey Burnside Court at Whorterbank were completed in 1963 at which time they were proclaimed as the highest in Dundee.

Skyscrapers was how they were described by the Evening Telegraph in 1960!

Dundee author Brian King has charted the fortunes of Lochee and said the multi-storey flats originally had open balconies but these have since been filled in.

“As well as the multi-storey blocks, there were two five-storey maisonette blocks with what was described as old people’s housing on the ground floor,” he said.

“There was also a separate terrace of housing for the elderly as well as lock-ups, parking and storage facilities and a children’s play park.

“The new Whorterbank shops were set back from the main road and had maisonette houses above.

“Among the shops was Ethel Donaldson’s newsagents which had relocated there from the nearby section of the Lochee High Street which had been demolished as part of the redevelopment.

“Other early occupants included a hairdressers and a TV rental shop.

“I think Whorterbank was seen at the time as a model of what could be done.

“It would have been a big improvement on the housing that had been there before and because it was the first Comprehensive Development Area to be completed in Scotland, I think other cities would have been looking at it.

“Like all the multis in Dundee, the ones at Whorterbank were pretty successful at the start.”

Toddlers could be left in a sandpit at Whorterbank estate in Lochee

The People’s Journal in 1963 said Whorterbank was one of the best shopping centres in the city where you could buy everything from baby clothes to a bottle of whisky.

Just outside the shops was a play area, complete with sandpit, where the Dundee-based periodical suggested “toddlers can be safely left while mum has a browse around”.

“And there is no need to worry about the rain when you’re shopping in Whorterbank.

“For along the front of the shops is a protected walk, which means that even if you’re just looking, you won’t get wet.

“And the scheme contains almost every shop that is needed.

“You can buy everything from baby clothes to a bottle of whisky. Knitting wool, nylons or nappies all can be bought at Robertson’s baby linen shop.

“Keiller’s have their usual wide selection of bakery goods, cakes and confectionery, while at Soutar’s the greengrocer’s and licensed wine merchants, there’s always top quality fruit and vegetables, as well as a selection of canned and frozen foods.”

How much did it cost to live in the high-rise blocks?

A three-room flat with kitchenette and bathroom cost £1, nine shillings and 8p a week including rates while a two-roomed house would set you back £1, four shillings and 11p.

Dundee was on the up and up

The Whorterbank 15-storey blocks appeared on the front page of an Evening Telegraph supplement in 1963 which highlighted “the changing face of Dundee”.

It read: “The Dundee exile’s dream of home is likely to be rudely shattered when next he visits his home city. The city is undergoing a gigantic face-lift.

“In the next few years its centres and suburbs will be transformed.

“In the field of housing, Dundee is certainly on the up and up.

“The multi-storey, once a novelty and the mecca for thousands of Sunday sightseers, is now an accepted part of the city skyline.

“Those who compare this return to high-density housing with the city’s older tenements could not be more mistaken.

“You can’t equate houses sadly lacking in sunlight and set around noisy courtyards with spacious and airy homes set in pleasantly-landscaped surroundings.

“One of the best examples of this high new standard of housing is to be seen at the recently completed Whorterbank development, with its own miniature shopping centre and attractive landscaping.”

So how did you become a tenant back in 1963?

The applicants were required to fit strict criteria such as being employed or retired and have no current rent arrears whilst providing “character references”.

The children were not permitted to play ball games on the grassed areas and all tenants were required to “take their turn of cleaning the stairs and landing areas”.

People moved in droves from the decaying heart of the city and Whorterbank represented the major step up from the cramped and squalid tenements.

Here was a luxury development and Whorterbank Lochee was a place of harmony for decades amongst ordinary folk who took pride in their surroundings.

Eventually, though, things changed for the worse.

Culture of fear from mob rule

The area degenerated from the 1980s as poor maintenance took a toll and anti-social behaviour began to multiply against a backdrop of unemployment.

In the 1990s the drug problem began to plague Lochee and the multi-storey blocks started to go downhill and attracted drug abusers and vandals.

Residents claimed the multi-storey blocks were “like Beirut” and some even claimed the culture of fear from mob rule ripped apart the estate’s community spirit.

One by one the shops were shuttered up and everything was closing down.

Deck-access blocks comprising 12 flats at Whorterbank were eventually razed in 2004 after being included in a list of buildings “at risk of being declared surplus”.

Several multis were on the city-wide list.

Ancrum Court and Burnside Court were among 11 towers which survived being demolished because there was not enough accommodation to re-house residents.

The four Dallfield multis and all six in Lochee along with Dudhope Court were instead refurbished and their flats were brought up to Scottish housing quality standard.

Most of the Whorterbank development is still standing after 60 years including the two high-rise blocks.

No longer Utopia, perhaps, and there are still problems to be solved, but Whorterbank’s history shows that transformation of an area for the better is always possible.